EDMONTON, AB – FC Edmonton winger Ben Fisk scored his first goal of the season at the stroke of halftime before Puerto Rico striker Conor Doyle’s free header in the 54th minute guaranteed each team would leave with a point in a 1-1 draw at Clarke Stadium on Sunday, August 20.
Captain Nik Ledgerwood was sent off for the Eddies in injury time for a second-yellow offence, capping off a physical contest that included nine cautions. Fisk’s marker in the 45th minute is the Vancouver. B.C. product’s fourth point in six games after notching three assists in his previous five. On the visiting side, Doyle kept pace with his Eddies counterpart by scoring his third goal in four matches to continue the island side’s undefeated run (2W-3D-0L) in the North American Soccer League (NASL) Fall Season.
“It seems to be the story of the season,” Miller said post-match. “We continue to create great scoring chances but we can’t seem to finish any of them. But the players played really well today, you cannot fault their efforts on the pitch. The guys are playing well, the attitude is good and the depth is good too. There were a lot of positives today, it’s just disappointing that it’s twice we go ahead now and only register two points out of six.”
The Eddies made two changes to the line-up, moving Allan Zebie to right-back for Shawn Nicklaw and handing Vancouver Whitecaps FC loanee and midfielder Ben McKendry his first start in the blue and black of FC Edmonton.
The Eddies nearly opened the scoring on 28 minutes through Ameobi. The Newcastle product held the ball up before playing a give-and-go with Ben Fisk, who found Ameobi with the return pass. Ameobi was clear on goal, but Spangenberg got a touch on Ameobi’s attempt on goal to keep the score line at 0-0.
However, the Eddies got a goal right before the half-time break when Ameobi and Fisk combined again. This time, it was Ameobi who displayed some terrific footwork to beat his man out-wide before running to goal. Ameobi found Fisk with a square pass and the 24-year-old winger fired a shot into the bottom corner to give the Eddies a 1-0 lead heading into the half-time break.
Puerto Rico started the second half strong and they were rewarded with the equalizing goal on 54 minutes. Forward Giuseppe Gentile swung in a cross from the right-wing that found an unmarked Doyle inside the box. Doyle directed his header off the post and into the back of Farago’s net to make it 1-1.
Edmonton continued to push for the go-ahead goal and were unlucky not to have scored their second of the match on 70 minutes. After the Puerto Rico defenders intercepted Ameobi’s knock-down inside the box, the ball fell to Corea, who fired a shot that beat Spangenberg but the ball was cleared off the line by a Puerto Rico defender.
Ledgerwood was shown his second yellow card of the match deep into stoppage time. Despite being down a man to 10 players, the home side pushed for the game-winning goal. Through a corner kick, Watson headed the ball towards the mix and Keegan flicked the ball towards goal. Spangenberg made a terrific diving save to keep the score at 1-1 and secure a point for the visiting side.
“Our set-piece delivery was good today,” Miller said. “I felt we were a bit reactive at times and we hit the first defender on set-pieces, which is something we have to avoid a bit more. But you can’t fault the attitude of the players today. I felt Puerto Rico were happy with a draw, they were really clever when it came to slowing the game down.”
FC Edmonton
Farago; Zebie, Diakite, Watson, Galvao; Dustin, McKendry (Eustaquio 89’), Ledgerwood, Fisk; Ameobi, Fordyce (Keegan 71’)
Puerto Rico FC
Spangenberg; Soria, Kavita, Puerto, Ramirez; Quintilla Dias (85’), Yuma; Doyle Gentile, Rivera (S. Rivera 75’); Welshman (Rubio 83’)
Scorers
FC Edmonton: Fisk (45’),
Puerto Rico FC: Doyle (55’)
Cautions
FC Edmonton: Ledgerwood (18’, 90’), Zebie (48’), Fordyce (52’), Watson (70’), Eustaquio (90’)
Puerto Rico FC: Yuma (24’), S. Rivera (88’), Kavita (26’)